The Crackwalker

by Judith Thompson

Teresa is sexy, seductive, and mentally challenged. Worshipped by her boyfriend, she turns tricks at $5, is addicted to Tim Hortons' doughnuts, lies without thinking, and overflows with endless kindness, but she continues to hold on to her limitless innocence. The Crackwalker captures the music, the dialect, and the unpretty realities of the inner city. First produced thirty years ago, Thompson's striking portrayal of the discarded class in Canada continues to move audiences today.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Canada, Drama, School

148 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2002

Reviews

[Crissy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do NOT read this book, unless you would like to be traumatized!!!

[Richie Assaly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently this is a classic Canadian play, but 40 years later, it has not aged well. It certainly draws you in, and keeps you invested until it’s terrible end, but it’s depiction of Indigenous characters and people with developmental disabilities is extremely problematic. You’d think the playwright, who worked as a social worker briefly, would approach this subject with more tact or empathy. An attempt at realism, in this play, comes off as ignorant, crass, and harmful.

[Danya · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very gritty, disturbing, and almost uncomfortably realistic portrayal of four people living in poverty in Kingston. To be read critically, as the central theme of flawed humanity can easily be overshadowed by the dialectic and profane language Thompson uses.

I'm curious to see what this looks like onstage.

[Madeleine · Rating 2 out of 5]

something about this did not sit right with me

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

yeah it's disgusting and semi-realistic I guess. This rating is not because I was too grossed out or disturbed.
It seems that this was just tragic to be tragic. There's really no lesson or moral (which I understand isn't necessary for a play - but seriously, what the hell am I supposed to take from this?) of the story, and a lot of parts just seem unnecessary. This whole play seems unnecessary. Any decisions would have led the characters to the same ending. Any decision. I could rewrite the whole thing and still manage to depict the same ending. That's a sign that this play is not well written, unfortunately.
This play tries really hard to make you feel something, but it didn't move me much because it should have tried harder to get me to even care in the first place.

[Julian Munds · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Canada, you encounter this play ad nauseum in Theatrical training and studies, and it shows a unique set of voices that are very Canadian. However, the play itself is empty. Upon reexamination, my third or fourth, Judith Thompson worked for awhile as a Social Worker and when reading this play you can see that she acted as a tape recorder. She wrote down what she heard. Is this a bad thing? No. But it sets a precedent for later Canadian playwrights to exist only in realism and then documentary theatre. This is the beginning of the documentary theatre that now infects and restrains the Canadian theatre. A look into minds, but not an amalgamation. An otherness through presentation.

[Fab P]

Ambivalent about my read, but would probably be fascinating to see on stage.

[Phillip · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those plays that I imagine would be really viscerally disturbing to see performed. That's the reaction Thompson wants, according to the introductory materials in the Norton Anthology of Drama (yes, I didn't read this specific edition). There is a lot of graphic sexual language and scenes, violence, and infanticide. Clearly not a play for the faint of heart.

What's really interesting as a reader of the play is how Thompson runs language together to create a kind of dialect. Sometimes it is phrases, groups of words, that get turned into a single word; but more striking is the limited use of punctuation. The characters often speak whole lines with questions, statements, multiple clauses and so on without hitting a punctuation mark. In a way it is like reading a high modernist poem, because the words themselves try to carry the meaning that as readers we normally ascribe to punctuation--as readers we need to decide how something would be punctuated to understand how it would be spoken/what the phrase means.
I imagine that acting this play would be both challenging and liberating for performers because they need to make the same kinds of interpretative decisions that I as a reader needed to make, but they also get to enforce those decisions through the performance of the dialogue. So if an actor decided to break a piece of dialogue off as a separate clause, he or she can perform it only that way (at least for a given performance--obviously the next night it might be spoken differently), but as a reader I can think about various ways of understanding the dialogue within my real-time experience of reading.

[J Jewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently working on both Theresa and Sandy as characters for scene study in my acting school and this play, in my personal opinion is one of the most divisive and progressive plays that emerged from the time of its release. The topics dealt with are not fun. There is no happy ending. And these people are not particularly morally high standing individuals..at all. And yet, the complexities hidden within this play, and within these characters own minds are absolutely fascinating to both read about and dissect. I love to challenge myself when it comes to acting and one thing I can give credit to this play for is a true challenge of character exploration to embody somebody you may never want to associate yourself as. It’s an absolutely beautiful, messy and to be frank quite horrifying tale on reality and the hardships that life can hold. The moral ambiguity of society and everyone as their own person, and of course- one’s pains.

Be warned, if you do read this you must have an open heart and understanding that although the topics discussed and enacted may be disturbing and traumatic, they are meant to bring light, especially in a time period where these things we not talked about. The abuse and racism throughout may hurt your heart, make your squirm or boil your blood…but that’s where the true realism shines. BECAUSE THIS SHIT HAPPENS. And it needs to be shown.

I recommend to read this especially if you’re looking for complex character exploration as an actor or if you’re looking for a truly honest take on what life can truly be, and is for some people.

4.5/5.0

[Ifrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really not as great as people said it was.

I found it too short for my tastes and actually not as dark either. Maybe that's just me.

However, if I were to see this play instead of read it, I think it would have been a great experience and it would have really scared me then.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is entirely real and nothing less. Some may think that it is too disgusting, but that's how life can be at times. There were a few times that I wanted to jump in and help Theresa, so be warned that reading this play is similar to watching a train crash.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful language. Dark subject matter. Pretty great.

[Melissa Cox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Someone please explain to me what I was supposed to gain from this...

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is fucked...

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depressing. But that's the point. The 5 characters remind us of the most vulnerable in our society. A Canadian version of 'The Grapes of Wrath.'